Okay, I noticed the mark I used instead of quotation marks to distinguish when someone was speaking in different language isn't supported on this page. So I changed the previous chapter and replaced them so that it would make sense now :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Kotor or any of the characters, except for my Raven of course.
„Raven! God, you're alright!" The first thing I heard and saw when we returned to our apartment was Mission and her high-pitched voice. She embraced me so tightly it really hurt. "We were so afraid! We saw the accident. It was terrible!"
"Wait, Mission, you're..."
"You just kept lying there for so long. We thought you were dead!"
I managed to wriggle out of her arms. "Yeah, I got better," I murmured before turning back to the young Jedi. "Bastila, that's Mission. And the Wookie's Zaalbar," I introduced them. "Now excuse me, I'm starving," I said curtly and headed to the little kitchen.
"I'm glad to see you alive and well, Bastila. Things are finally looking up," Carth spoke up. From my angle I couldn't see the two of them, but I didn't close the door so I could hear them.
"I'm, too, glad I'm no longer a Vulcar prisoner Carth," she answered unemotionally as if the fact wasn't actually pleasing at all. "But our work's not done yet. Do you have any plan on how to escape this planet?"
She has hell of an attitude, I snorted before opening the fridge and looking inside. I was disappointed to find it almost empty. There was only some half-eaten Bantha butter, blue milk and some fungi, which smelled terribly. I had a feeling I'd seen Mission eat it back at the Bek's base. I looked around for some bread, but there wasn't any. I shrugged and turned towards the door.
What Bastila said must have surprised Carth because it took quite some time before he replied. "No, Bastila, we don't. We spent our whole time searching for you and trying to find a way to rescue you," he said.
"Rescue me?" she repeated and looked at me when I entered the room again. "I don't think the poor attempt back there could be considered a rescue, Carth."
I only raised my eyebrow and crossed my arms in front of me, but I didn't interrupt their conversations.
"Bastila, Raven risked her life during that race," Carth defended me. "Not to mention she almost lost it. If it weren't for the shield she had who knows what would have happened."
"What shield?" I asked confusedly. As far as my memory went Beks didn't equip me with any. I wanted to ask what he meant by it, but then I notice Bastila glanced towards me. And when our eyes met I suddenly felt a wave of uncertainty and fear swoop over me. The feelings felt strange thought, somehow unfamiliar as if they weren't even mine. But that wasn't possible, was it?
"The blue one," Mission interfered. "You had it activated when the explosion tossed you away. It disappeared shortly after you slipped into unconsciousness."
"Wait a minute both of you," I took a slow breath, still trying to cope with the lingering feelings. "I didn't have any shield."
"I didn't notice it either," Bastila nodded and for the first time ever I saw some trace of emotions on her pale face. But before I could actually make out what it was exactly, it was gone. "And I know, Carth. I appreciate what she did, but I managed to free myself from the cage on my own," she returned to the previous topic again.
Carth frowned and took a breath, but I spoke first. "It doesn't matter who saved whom. Now we should focus on how to get out of this hole before it's too late."
"And you should get Bastila some new clothes," Mission noted aptly and looked at the Jedi. She was right of course. The brown corset and leggings she was wearing now weren't very flattering, quite the opposite.
"And we should buy some food. I'm hungry and we have nothing to eat. The thing is we're broke," I stated.
"No, we're not," Bastila said simply and stretched her arm. Until up to this point I hadn't noticed she was hiding anything in her hand let alone a credit chip.
"That's the one from the winner's prize!" I took it in my hands.
"I knew it would come in handy," Bastila added.
I smiled and looked at Carth. "I'll be right back. Mission, you coming?"
The Twi'lek's face lit up. "Sure thing! The Upper City has some great shops!"
When I returned with the supplies I found Carth sitting alone in the armchair with his face in his hands. I put the food we'd bought on one of the beds and went closer to him with only Bastila's new clothes in hands. "Where's our young Jedi?"
"In the 'fresher," he answered and raised his eyes to me. He looked tired.
"What did you find out?" I asked and went to the door to bathroom. I opened it slightly and shoved inside the clothes so that she could put them on after her shower.
"She's such a brat," he gave a heavy sigh and rubbed his face.
I chuckled. "Getting on the nerves, is she?"
"She means well, but she's far too self-important. I know her Battle meditation helped us to win a few battles, but that doesn't make her a good leader. At least she acknowledged that."
"Well she's young and inexperienced," I shrugged sitting on the small table. "And she's a Jedi. She probably thinks we're some nobodies," I added, happy smile never leaving my face.
And he'd noticed that too. "Why do you look so smug?" he asked with a risen eyebrow. "And where are Mission and Zaalbar?"
"Well, Mission wanted to say hi to Gadon so we stopped at Bek's base. I needed to put the food to the fridge so I left all three of them there and hurried back," I answered.
That caught his attention. "Three?"
I bit my lip. "Heh? Three? Silly me. Two of them," I waved my hand. "Well...I guess we still don't know how to get off Taris, do we?"
Carth shot me a searching look crossing his hands in front of him. "You know of something?" he asked.
"Maybe I do..." I paused and shifted to sit cross-legged. "It seems my short but successful carrier as a swoop racer has gotten me a few...contacts," I started carefully. I wasn't sure how well Carth would take the news considering his paranoia.
"Go on," he spurred.
"Well, we were about to return when he sent for us to meet him in the Upper City canteen."
Carth frowned, but let me talk.
"We had Zaalbar with us so we gave it a shot. And probably won a jackpot. We know a way out of here."
The next question came from the bathroom as Bastila finally left the room. "You do?" she asked.
I had to admit she looked much better now. Her hair wasn't a mess anymore and the new tunic and trousers fit her. "Yes," I smiled at her. "I know about someone who can get us a ship fast enough to break through the blockade. But first he needs us to get the launch codes from the Sith base."
Carth just stared at me, but Bastila didn't bat an eyelash. "How are we supposed to do that?" she asked immediately.
"What?" Carth looked at her with incredulous expression. "You're not really thinking about breaking in, are you? With our equipment and number it would be suicide!"
"We'll go there tonight," I interrupted what seemed to be a start of quarrel. "There won't be so many soldiers. And as for the way in, I've already bought and astromech droid, T3-M4 is his number I think," I recalled.
"You wasted our money on something like that?" Carth asked. He was apparently losing his temper.
"No," I opposed lifting one hand in the air. "I spent my money I had won on a useful astro droid."
"How much?" he asked with sigh, apparently accepting my arguments.
"Twelve hundred," I answered and after short hesitation added: "How much do these droids usually cost?"
He shrugged. "Where is he?"
"With Mission and Zaalbar. I sort of anticipated your reaction and wanted to spare him your moods."
"My...what?" Carth shook his head with resignation. I could almost hear his tormented sigh: women.
At that moment Bastila stepped in. "Who was the man who contacted you?"
I bit my lip again and shifted my weight. "Well...uh, Canderous of Clan Ordo. He..."
At that point Carth was on his feet. "Mandalorian? You're joking, right? They can't be trusted."
"He seemed honest," I defended myself standing up too. "Besides, if Mandalorians take pride in something it's their honour. Breaking a promise is hardly honourable, don't you think? And except for that, he wants to leave this planet too. He doesn't like what small money Davik pays him nowadays."
"Even better," Carth nodded. Until now I had no idea how much sarcasm could emanate from two short words. "So he's not only Mandalorian, but he works for the Exchange as well. Raven, great job. You've really outdone yourself this time."
I put my hands on my hips. "Do you have another plan, flyboy?"
"No I don't," he admitted with a calmer tone. "But no plan is better that this one."
"I dare to disagree," Bastila intervened again. "We should leave this place as soon as we can. Sith troops are looking for us and it's foolish and dangerous to abide here while knowing of a way out." Her grey eyes looked at me. "I'd like to meet that Canderous."
I shook my head. "I'm afraid that's not possible. We're to meet tomorrow in Javyar's Cantina in the Lower City and he'll expect me to have the codes at the time."
"Let's say," Carth said, "we agree to do it. What would happen after we hand him the codes?"
"He would take us to Davik pretending we want to be part of the Exchange. And while staying in his apartment, we'd steal his ship."
"Sounds easy," Bastila mused, her eyes half-closed.
"Except for the break-in-the-Sith-base part," Carth pointed out. "This one is still suicidal."
I frowned. "Maybe it is, but what other choice do we have? Besides we have nothing to lose. I won't force you to accompany me, if you don't want to Carth. But we need those codes."
"I could help you," Bastila volunteered, but I had to refuse that. "No. The whole planet's looking for you. I don't think bringing you along is wise," I disagreed with her idea and focused my attention back to Carth.
He had this deadpan expression on his face, but then his features softened and I saw a flicker of concern in his eyes. "It's going to be dangerous Raven. Don't you get it?" he asked. He got me by surprise when his hand reached out and tugged a strand of my hair behind my ear. The worst part of it was I caught myself wanting to lean into his touch.
"I-I do," I nodded when his hand fell back to his hips. "But we need to be off this place as soon as possible, Carth. Don't you remember what we talked about in the sewers? We're running out of time. But if we bring Canderous the codes, we can be far from this place this time tomorrow," I paused to take a breath. "I won't let fear stop me from going to the base tonight. Alone if needed."
Carth turned his back to me for a moment. "No, I'm coming with you. I won't let you die on me again."
"I knew you'd come ar...again?" I realized what he said.
"You almost died during the crash," he said looking anywhere but at me. "I'll take the food to the kitchen," he added and with that he took the bags and disappeared into the door, leaving me and Bastila standing in the room alone.
"What..." Bastila started.
"That's normal," I shrugged. "Wait, no. It's not. Usually we scream at each other. Anyway, I'm going to bed."
We set off around midnight. Only Sith were walking around the streets that hour, which made our presence quite suspicious. We were stopped at least five times that night and it was only thanks to the papers Gadon had given to us the guards let us continue.
"It's romantic, don't you think?" I asked looking around. "The rounded peaks all around us, the lights, the silent sounds of traffic from the Middle City..." I went on.
"Constant Sith threat, their fleet on the planet's orbit, danger of being discovered, arrested, tortured, killed..."
I smiled. "Okay, okay, flyboy, you've proved your point. But you have to admit without the Sith this place would be a paradise. Sort of."
He had a blank look on his face. "You talked to Mission?"
"No, she was a little upset when I woke up and didn't want to talk about...anything actually. Why?"
"We had exactly the same conversation when she returned from the Lower City."
I looked at him from the corner of my eyes. "I know where this is going. You said something stupid and made her angry, huh?"
"What makes you think it was my fault?" he asked. I gave him a meaningful stare. "I called her a kid, that was all," he admitted.
"She's fourteen."
"That's why I called her a child."
"She's halfway grown up and you should treat her so. Not to mention Mission's much more mature than any other child of her age," I informed him.
"You talk like you have experience with children," he pointed out and gave me a searching look.
I nodded. "As a matter of fact I do. That's why we get on well."
"And do you have any with thievery? We're going to need it in a few minutes," he changed the topic when we finally had the large gate leading to the Sith base on sight.
"Well, that's why we have T3. He'll open the door for us. And I thought he could hack in their monitoring system and put a loop there too," I shrugged. The astro droid beeped merrily by my side, his little flat head turned towards me. "I wish I knew what you're saying little bro," I gave him an apologetic smile and motioned him to open the door when we get close enough. While T3 was working, Carth was looking around to check if anyone was watching us. I on the other hand kept my eyes on the droid. I was always fascinated by how fast they can unlock any door or hack into the most secured systems. I tried to learn the tricks too, but alas my computer skills were always limited. Maybe Mission could teach me a thing or two, I thought.
"Incredible," exhaled slowly when T3 beeped and backed a little. The door hissed and slowly opened revealing a lift behind them. The droid went inside and waited for us.
"That was easy," Carth noted after we got inside too. "What about now? Don't you think it's finally time to fill me in any plan of yours? Assuming you have any."
"Well, I think some plan or map of the base would come in handy. And since I doubt we'll find the codes in the first computer we stumble upon, we need enough time to thoroughly search the place. That means we need some way to move around unnoticed."
"You want us to disguise as Sith soldiers again?" Carth suspected my intention sounding rather annoyed.
"Beep beeeep!" T3 whistled and his little frame rocked wildly from side to side. I looked at Carth with questioning expression, but he didn't seem to know what that was supposed to mean either. We had no time to figure it out though when the lift finally stopped and the door opened. We stood in the large lobby with a single desk in the middle. A young Twi'lek woman was sitting behind it. She looked up at us. For a second none of us moved, but then she slowly frowned. /Who are you? What are you.../ her gaze fell on our weapons. Her eyes widened and she gasped. She made a move to touch something on her desk, but I lifted my hand with blaster in it. "Touch the alarm button," I started stopping her in the midst of her motion, "and your brain will splatter all over the wall behind you." With my free hand I patted T3's head when he beeped silently.
Carth raised his eyebrow at that. He stopped looking at the Twi'lek and focused his eyes on me.
/N-no...I won't. Please, don't hurt me. I just work here,/ she pleaded and slowly raised her hands above her head.
"Now that one's a smart girl," I smiled and stepped closer. "And she'd be even smarter if she stepped away from the desk. You can sit down on the floor if you want."
She kept nodding frantically while following my orders.
I put the blaster back to its holster and looked at my two companions. "T3, there's a console. See what you can do about the cameras here."
Carth came closer to me and laid a hand on my waist to keep me still. "Was it really necessary?" he whispered in my ear, nodding towards the Twi'lek on the floor.
"Would you prefer her sounding the alarm?" I asked in return.
"You could have been at least more subtle," he kept opposing me. I pushed him away from me and went to check on T3. He was already in the system playing with the records. "That should do it," I murmured and looked at the Twi'lek. Her scared eyes were still following me and when she spotted me looking at her she cowered a little. I sighed. "Listen," I spoke to her. "We don't want to cause any trouble here. All we want is to get out of this planet, but as you know, we need the launch codes first."
T3 beeped and for some reason it sounded as if he was worried.
"And if you help us I promise we won't shed any blood here."
I ignored Carth's disbelieving expression and kept looking at her. "You're one of the locals, aren't you? I bet you like this whole quarantine as much as we do, which means you don't. Wouldn't you like seeing someone finally punch the Sith in the face? Come on, I know you want to help us."
/Y-yes...I want to help you,/ she repeated and for a second her eyes got somewhat clouded. She seemed to be looking through me rather than at me. /What do you want to know?/ she added after a while.
I shot Carth an I-told-you-so look, before turning back to the woman. "We need to move through the base undetected, so some uniforms or at least some intel would help a great deal."
"And you could tell us where to find the launch codes," Carth specified.
/I can show you. On the map./ When I beckoned her to come closer, she stood up and slowly came to me. I never took my eyes off her while she was working with the computer. She showed us the map of this place and while pointing her fingers to certain locations she was talking: /You need to get to the computer room under this elevator. This is the shortest route, but it's the most guarded one too. It's because there's an armoury and a storeroom with battle droids which are shut off at the moment./
"I suppose there are other ways to get there," Carth asked. He was standing right behind me looking over my shoulder to see the displayed map.
She nodded. /There is. Through the central part of the base. There aren't as many soldiers and you could get the uniform you want here in this storeroom,/ she pointed to a small room not far from this one.
"Good to know, go on," I nodded.
/You should know there's a battle droid in front of the elevator./
"Droids can break," I stated, but she shook her head. /Not this one, at least not easily. It has a shield on. But if you stop in this room you can access a console which controls all droids. You need a Sith ID to do that however. You'll need the passcard to open the elevator too. Soldiers usually carry them while on duty./
"And what about the computer room you mentioned? Where exactly is it?" Carth asked.
/The elevator will take you right to it. But I think our Governor went there few hours ago./
"Who?" I asked incredulously. "I had no idea Sith had a Taris Governor now."
She nodded and looked at me. /They do. You should be careful, he's dangerous./
"All politicians are," I shrugged and put a hand on the women's shoulder. "Thanks, that was far more then I dared to hope for. We don't plan anything too brutal, but for your own safety you probably should go home for today...tonight...you know what I mean."
/You won't see me again. I'm going right now!/ she exclaimed and without paying us a second glance she hurried to the lift to get out of here.
"Pleasant girl," I smiled.
"But you were rude."
"It worked," I protested and looked at him with the most innocent look I could manage.
He shook his hand and put his hand on the small of my back to get me moving. "Just go, we have much to do."
We sent T3 few meters ahead to warn us before we run into some of the soldiers. We were lucky to get into the storeroom without meeting anyone. With huge lockers alongside walls the room was even smaller and we had to leave T3 on the corridor if we wanted to have enough room to change.
I opened one of the lockers. It was full of the golden uniforms for Sith troops; the same Carth had worn few days ago. I saw him make a face when I pointed inside. "I don't want to be in that can again," he protested with his hands in front of him.
"Stop whining, we have no other choice," was all I said before I handed him a helmet. "Just get into it, we have much to do," I simpered at his expression of total aversion.
He put the helmet on the locker and zipped up his jacket already reaching out for the rest of the armour. I started digging around in other lockers. I had to suppress a laugh when I found one with black and grey uniforms Sith officers wear. These were much more comfortable because had no armour whatsoever. I found one in my size and started putting it over my clothes.
Carth's face when he turned back to the locker to pick up the helmet and saw me was priceless. "What is that?" he asked and pointed at me.
"That is what makes me your superior. At least for now," I smiled. "After all, a gentleman like you wouldn't force me to wear the terrible, heavy, ugly armour, would you?" I pouted.
"Of course not," he answered curtly while putting the helmet on.
I bit my lip and sent him a mischievous grin. "I'm really starting to love it when you're angry. Besides, uniforms are sexy," I add winking at him.
"Yours certainly is," he muttered when I was already at the door, opening them carefully. I guess I wasn't supposed to hear that so I only bit my lip and smiled faintly.
T3 beeped cheerfully when he saw me again and his optic sensor lit up with bright blue.
"Hey there," I smiled at him and slowly turned around. "How do I look?"
The little droid made a chain of silent and loud beeps, which sounded merrily to my ears. "Hey, you're nice."
"Flattery gets you nowhere, but thanks anyway," Carth commented when he left the storeroom too. His hand caught my elbow and forced me to go. This time T3 was behind us, we no longer needed a warning beforehand.
"This place didn't seem so big on the map," I stated.
"That's because we're not heading to the lift now. We need to get the passcard first, but didn't meet a guard who'd be alone."
I rolled my eyes at Carth's answer. "Of course not. Patrol duty's nuisance. I, too, tried to have someone with me so that we could at least talk."
"But that's not what we need right now."
"Tell me about it. If we don't meet anyone in few minutes I'll fall asleep standing up."
"I thought you'd slept for a few hours before we set off."
"Yeah, but my sleep hasn't been the most refreshing recently."
"What do you..." Carth stopped when he heard loud steps. And when we finally could see the certain someone I completely failed to restrain my surprise. "Yum!" I exclaimed before I could stop myself.
The soldier, still dressed in the uniform with his helmet under his arms, was looking to the floor apparently deeply in thoughts. But my voice forced him to raise his head. His eyes widened when he recognize me, and he nearly dropped the helmet. "R...Raven?" he asked.
"Who's that?" Carth whispered worriedly and I noticed he put his hand on one of his blasters. I touched his arm to stop him.
"It's you, isn't it?" I conjured a smile on my face. "Hey, it's good to see you again."
"What are you doing here? And why are you wearing the uniform?" he asked.
"Well...I'm member of the Sith Empire. Surely it's not that surprising," I lied promptly
His face lit up at that. "So that's why you didn't mind talking to the Sith back at the cantina! Yes, it makes sense now!"
"Exactly," I smiled. I was glad he was sort of stupid. Any other person would surely see that through.
I noticed Carth flinch a little when Yum closed the distance between us and put his arms tightly around me. At that moment I realized again how terrible it was not seeing his expression under that stupid helmet.
And that wasn't the only thing I noticed...
"But why didn't you tell me?" he asked when I embraced him too. This time Carth crossed his arms in front of him and turned his back to me.
After a few necessary seconds I pushed him away from me. "You wouldn't believe how many men feel terribly while dating a woman who makes more than them. Not to mention I usually outrank them. Their friends tend to make fun of them because of it."
Yum's smile froze on his lips as the realization hit him. I was dressed in the officer uniform after all. "Oh...yes, that sounds...yeah," he stuttered and gave a nervous laugh.
I looked at my chrono. "You know Yum. I'd love to talk to you, but I really need to speak with the Governor right now. And I don't want to be late."
"Yeah...I can, uh, I understand that."
"I would...uhm..." I paused deliberately avoiding his eyes, "I would like to see you again if you don't mind. After all you promised we'd repeat what happened during the party," I looked at him again.
"I promised... what happened?" he asked and I thoroughly enjoyed how confused he was. But I didn't let my face betray my emotions this time. When I spoke up again, my expression saddened. "You don't remember? After the Pazaak we...I thought you...you said..." I sighed covering my face.
"No!" he shouted. "I remember, I definitely remember it. It was great and...I-I think you shouldn't keep the Governor waiting."
"You're right," I shrugged. "I should probably go. But I meant it when I said I'd like to see you again.
"I...yeah...maybe later. I'm busy," he nodded and sent me an insecure smile before finally disappearing from our sight.
I snickered. "I think I broke his heart."
"I take it you're done flirting with the Sith?" Carth asked angrily and turned his head to me.
"I wasn't flirting, just having fun," I corrected him. "The guy is incredibly dumb. I simply couldn't help myself and pick on him. Why do you ask? Are you jealous?" I added with a sweet tone tilting my head to one side.
"I didn't know groping someone was your definition of fun," he snapped.
I rolled my eyes. "If by groping you mean embracing, it was nothing more than yet another display of how damn lucky you are to have me." I raised my hand and in between my forefinger and middle finger I held Yum's passcard.
"So, children and thievery both. Were you part of some kid gang or something?" he asked before taking it.
"Something," I smiled at him.
With the passcard deactivating the droid was piece of cake...for T3. We just inserted it in the console and T3 took care of the rest.
"Now the difficult part," I said when the lift closed and started moving downwards slowly.
Carth snorted. "Why difficult? He's alone down there. Let's kill him and get out of here before someone notice."
I combed my hair with my fingers. "I get a feeling it won't be that easy, Carth. I feel..."
"What?" he asked when I paused. I only shook my head and shrugged. "I don't know what it is, but it's..." I didn't manage to finish my thought when the lift stopped and the door opened. There was a short corridor with closed door on the other side. We exchanged a glance before stepping out of the lift, T3 close at our heels.
"I can't hear anything," I whispered with my ear on the door.
"Maybe he's not inside anymore."
"We're not that lucky," I shook my head and opened the door. The round room behind it was small with computer panels and consoles along the walls. Apart from few lockers it was empty.
In the middle of it a bald man sat crossed-legged with his back to us. He wore some kind of dark robes with armour covering his torso. On the ground next to him two vibroblades lay.
"Who dares to disturb my meditation?" The Sith suddenly sprung to his feet and turned around using the Force to pull the swords into his hands. He startled when we stood face to face. "Who are you?" he asked slowly looking directly at me. "A Force-adept? Here, on this insignificant planet? Who would have thought that?" His eyes narrowed.
"Force-adept?" Carth repeated and his head turned to me. "Figures."
"This meeting is a stroke of luck for me," the Sith continued. "My Master will surely reward me with my lightsaber once I kill you."
T3 beeped few times silently and backed a little, hiding behind Carth. The light of his optic sensor was dim; he was afraid.
"I don't think so," I said coldly. And when he thrust forward in a poor attempt to run the swords through my body I jumped to the side and grasped one of his hands. I twisted it behind him, forcing him to drop the blade. I managed to catch it before it hit the ground and deflect another of his attacks.
"No!" I screamed when I noticed Carth raising his blasters. I dodged his lunge aimed at my stomach by jumping back. "You might hit me. Stay back!"
"But...!"
"Carth, I can handle him. Keep back!" I ordered blocking his sword and hitting his ribs with my free hand, making him bend over and take a few steps back. My face twisted in pain when my left hand made a contact with his armour.
"Raven!" "Beeeeeep!" Both my companions warned me just in time to look back at the Sith. He recovered from the hit faster than me and had already launched forward. I stepped out of his way, touching him on his back and sending him right against the wall.
"Is this the best you can do?" I laughed at him when he stopped himself with his hands. "No wonder your Master denies you your lightsaber. You'd only hurt yourself with it." I wasn't that confident though. All the time we were fighting I felt as if something was missing in my left hand. As if it should held another sword too even thought I'd never been trained for dual wielding.
"Your words mean nothing to me," he hissed. He lifted his hand and I felt a soft breeze sweep over me, but nothing else happened. The Governor looked surprised for a moment and when he turned his gaze to his hand I rushed forward. He was fast though; my blade only scratched his side. I set my leg to his way, but he jumped over it as if he'd anticipated me to do that. Spinning around he tried to hit me again, but I was ready for him. I ran under his stretched hand and when I stood behind him I hit the back of his head with my elbow. He made a few steps forward immediately turning around to deflect my lunge at his body. The blade slid down his own. Without a proper cross guard protecting his hand my sword made a deep cut into it causing him to yelp and flinch. I didn't give him time to recover this time. With a spin I attacked his side which he barely parried. With his palm covered in blood and sore his sword was literally slipping out of his hand.
"Give up and I might spare your life," I offered. He didn't answer. Instead he rubbed his hand against his leg to dry it.
"I take it as no!" I yelled when he attacked again. I blocked his thrust turning my back to him and caught his armed hand under my arm. I used my elbow to hit his abdomen and face after he bent forward. He gasped when I finally run my sword through his chest. His vibroblade fell to the floor with loud clank followed by his body. I dropped the bloody sword too and knelt to the Sith taking his face in my hands. "I'm sorry," I whispered to him. "May the Force be with you," I added for no apparent reason and closed his dead eyes.
"What did you say?" Carth asked and came closer to me.
"I...don't know to be honest," I shook my head and looked around. "T3, the codes," I reminded him. He beeped and made his way to one of the consoles.
"You do realize you just defeated a force wielder?" Carth asked slowly.
I shrugged and headed to the lockers to search them. "He didn't use it. The Force I mean. If he had thought, it might have saved his life when his melee skills couldn't."
"He tried. But it didn't work," he noted.
I frowned. "Maybe he did something wrong," I shrugged. "It takes a strong will to resist effects of the Force and I'm anything but strong-willed." When I found nothing of importance I closed the locker and moved to the other one. "Could you stop standing there and search the body? Maybe he has something valuable on him," I ordered him. He shook his head, but listened to me and knelt next to him.
"Beeep peeeeep beep." T3 moved to the door to let us know he's done.
I was about to close the other locket too, when I heard Carth. "This doesn't look like it belonged to him. Ian Simons...wait...that sounds familiar."
I spun around abruptly and hurried to him. He held dog tags in his hand and was examining them. "What are you..." he started when I snatched them from his hands.
"God..." I exhaled closing my eyes. I brought the now fisted hand to my heart for a moment and smiled. "Thought I'd lost them," I whispered and opened my eyes again, staring at my palm.
"Wait a minute...these are yours?" Then it struck him. "Simons. That's your surname."
I nodded. "I had them during the crash, but they had to fall off my neck," I explained and put them around my neck, tugging them under both the uniform and my own clothes. "I gave up all hopes I'd ever see them again."
T3, still waiting at the door, made a short loud beep which sounded rather impatiently.
"I guess we can talk later," Carth said and motioned towards the door. "After you."
Here you go :) Took me longer than usual. Partly becuase I was away and partly because I was sooooo lazy, sorry :) Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. And don't forget that every review's welcomed :)
The next updates might take a little while too, since my holiday's nearing to its end, but I'll try my best to squeeze writing into my schedule as often as possible.
